November 2016

TGIF takes a wonderful twist tomorrow, as the second best Friday of the year is barely 3 hours away. Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! I say a big thank you on your behalf. Say a thank you prayer on behalf of the blog too.
So, here’s the scoop on the Nigerian Brands having major sales tomorrow. The more I find, the more I update with! Also, share with us in the comments section – the abscence of a Dom account will not stop the shopaholics from battling tomorrow!

The Alaroro’s Guide to shopping: Write your list and obey it with your life. If you pay 50% less for something you don’t need, you just lost that money to the world. Be sad. 😒😒😒

Make sure you compare prices! I can’t stress this enough.

Sizelle Stores: Look, I really hope the site comes back up because you can’t afford to miss this sale. I got a big tub of Eco Styler Gel for N840! UNfreakingbelievable!

A Woman’s Wants – This online fashion store has promised a huge discount tomorrow. You can also visit their store – it’s on Murtala Mohammed Way (after MRS or TOTAL)

It is 109 days to my birthday and I am super-duper excited – also scared because I thought I’d be Forever Young!

This year has been an EXPERIENCE, and I have so much to be thankful for.

Today is the 1st anniversary of The Alaroro Shopaholic blog. This time last year, I put up my first blogpost! Click here to read it! Happy Birthday to my baby-blog. My prayer for you is found in Luke 2:52 – Grow in wisdom and in stature! I’ll put up another post, where I’ll be taking stock of this year next week + a giveaway!

Happy Birthday to TheAlaroro(dot)com

Anyway, I decided to share my wishlist with you guys just in case you want to send me a gift or two.

Here goes…

Black Pumps – Seriously! I have one pair of Black Pumps that I bought in 2013. If these shoes come back to life, they will run away from me. These shoes have been to interviews, met dignitaries, turned up, gone to church… Everything. Save them and get me a new pair! Size 42.

A Wristwatch – I really want a new wristwatch, particularly something like this MVMT watch in black. Alternatives to this must be minimalist – 1 colour all through.

Silver Sandals – LOL. I’m a bride-to-be, please. What other reason do you need? Size 42

Fragrance – So, I want to try new fragrances! I am currently loving Lancome’s LA Vie est Belle, but I’d love to try the Hugo Boss – Boss the Scent for Her and Viktor and Rolf’s Flowerbomb!

Flat Black Shoes – Other colours are welcome too, but let’s work with classy! Black Flats are the holy grail for comfort. Add fancy detailing and voila! You can be comfortable and stylish, all at once. Size 42, as always.

Frames – I wear prescription glasses, but I do not believe they have to be boring. I plan to switch to contacts soon, so you can buy those fat and fancy (almost gaudy) Instagram Baddie frames and I’ll be able to rock ’em without paying for lenses. P.S. lenses are really cheap in Balogun, in fact I have reason to believe that many of our fancy eye clinics send their jobs to Balogun and charge us exorbitant prices! You can even get your photochromic and anti-glare lenses there. Dull not.

African Literature – This is a sub, catch your sub. I don’t have a lot of physical books anymore and this makes me sad. Will I give my children e-books as an inheritance? I want more books. Fiction, African Fiction. I want to know if the stories told are as colourful as our experiences. Hi Raihannah.

Bags – Particularly, structured bags. Black, Burgundy, Navy Blue. The power of a good bag cannot be overemphasised. Big enough to carry a 10″ laptop and smart enough to look sexy!

A Staycation – My birthday is on a Friday and going to crash in a beautiful and comfortable hotel room till Sunday (or Monday sef) could be the best gift. I need that rest.

Arm Candy – Beautiful bracelets like this one from Pandora or any other. Silver, Rose Gold, Gold or even Black. Stacks on stacks on stacks.

Ego. Kudi. Owo. Argent. Dinheiro. Money 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰

Peace. Wisdom. Growth. – This one is a request from my heart. God knows.

So, there’s your guide for my Birthday and Christmas gifts.

Also, if you want to wish me happy birthday on Social Media, record a video! Instead of putting up pictures of me, I’d like if you guys could record a video of you sending me sweet wishes! <3

Another date night has come and gone, and I am so glad we tried something new. As an Alaroro, you know I am very vicious about how my money is spent and as a shopaholic/spend-a-holic, there are times when I just want to try everything and anything. Are you like me?

For food, I blame Eat Drink Lagos. All deez naiz reviews and when you scroll to the bottom, you see the smiling guy and you know it’s good. Then you see the price point. Your bank account is like “Don’t do it baby girl” and you’re lowkey like:

A few months ago, the EDL team reviewed an Eastern European restaurant and I decided that this would be my treat for date night.

After romancing this man with my words: Get ready for a treat. I won’t mess my date night up o. It will be too bomb. You can’t keep up. Nkan nkan, igba, awo…

First mess up: I forgot my debit card. Lewl. So, I decided to make a transfer to his account and OTPs refused to deliver. Okay, lover please help me, we will use your card. Him: Okay, I’ll make a transfer to the account I have a card for. Add more LOLs, because no OTPs. Perhaps, we should not be using the same bank e?

Meanwhile, mo ti order starter.

Bruh, I looked at my hands. Is this how I will wash dishes today? Master Lord. I started to panic. By the time, my starter came, I could not really focus on the taste. I kept thinking about washing plates.

Shalla to Wendy-bae for coming through for her girl. I think the lover was just laughing at me for all the mouth I made.

Anyway, ki ni koko oro yii? Have cash. Oh, and guess what? as I got into my Uber back (1k off! Use my code o IREA346UE), I received 10 OTPs at once! Shame!

So, cost details:

Date Night/ Dinner Budget: N10,000

Starter: Meat Hummus – N2,500

Main: Pizza – N5,000

Water: 2 bottles @ N300

Total Spend: N8,100

Saved: N1,900

Alaroro Tips for Dining Out

Have a budget: How much do you want to spend? Subscribe to Eat Drink Lagos. You can have a view of how much the restaurant charges for certain meals and drinks! This will guide every decision you make and you’ll not be doing addition and subtraction when your date is ordering.

Have the mind to share: Look for a meal that you and your date can share and enjoy. For me, this was pizza and yeah, it was worth it. It was so delicious. Gaddemit. We had the Four Corners Pizza and with 8 pizza slices, we both had a taste of all the meats 😀

Mix and Match: Don’t play it safe all through dinner. I decided to try something I had never tried before: Hummus as a starter. I don’t think I’ll do it again, but I’m glad I tried it.

Drink Water: To make the most out of the meal, cut your drink budget. If you came for the food, spend your money on the food and drink Orijin when you get home -_-. If you came to drink, drink.

So, where are you taking your special person for dinner this month? You know the Mastercard Restaurant Week 2016 ends on the 25th? Click here for more details!

My shopaholic side has been viciously silenced and I do not even have the financial strength to unzip her mouth. If it was not planned for, a want not a need – not very interested. I mean, my birthday is coming soon (17+ days) and I am seriously reconsidering my small chops budget, because eez it by force?

So, I don’t know if anyone has asked you recently: How’s it going for you? Faithing it? Winging it? Coasting? or Balling on another level? This is a big big giant hug for you. Whichever one it is, I pray it will only get better and better!

So, what practical tips can I give you for this time?

– Review your Money Plan: Let us be realistic. If you had a 2k per week budget for food, what will it buy you now? If transportation has increased, why are you suffering yourself? Take a look at your environment and update your possible expense list to enable you to adjust your budget. If you have never had a budget, now might just be the time to get on the Financially Fit bandwagon! This post on Money Plans can guide you.

Click Me

– Get ready to cut back on the nice-to-haves: The increment in cost of living, means that some jara has to ja kuro or be replaced. Turn up? Is it necessary? If yes, can you and your friends split costs? If not, can you afford it? If not, what are you doing? If you must turn up, make that a line in your budget and stick to it!

– Going to the Market? Make a list of everything you need. Stick to it. Seriously! Except you find an alternative to something on your list that is a better deal. If not, stick to your list.

– Actively search for deals: Make it a priority to always look for better prices. I am currently planning a wedding: mine to be precise and the cost of things has me considering elopement. A few questions are helping me: Do I need a big name vendor? Can I get a vendor who may just be starting out, but offers good quality work? Can I pay for my sister/cousin/mentee to learn a particular skill and have him/her work with me on my Big Day? I mean, we can practice practice practice till we get it right! On regular kitchen matters, Gizzard and Turkey are kukuma the same price per kilo now and there are no bones in gizzard (the 1kg is really 1kg) and you can get more pieces. Who 1kg of Turkey epp?

– Increase your savings: Viv, are you joking? No, I am not. Now is the time to save more. Yes, the ant saves up food in the summer in preparation for the winter and I know it feels like winter right now, but we do not if it will get colder or warmer economically. So, we need to be prepared.

– Give – As e hard for you, na in e tough for your neighbour. Look around you. Really look and see. Someone out there needs your help. Don’t go far. Observe your neighbours: those who live alone, or have a lot of children e.t.c. Help someone out. A mini-bag of rice, 10 packs of Indomie, a carton, even if it is one… Your little can mean a whole lot to someone. You can also join the A Thousand 1000 family and donate to ChristmasOnTheStreetZ this year.

We will make it, right? I have hope and I have faith.

If you have any more questions, you can hit me up on Twitter, IG and/or via e-mail: sisi@thealaroro.com

We always say things like: “I don’t have enough clothes. No, really. I don’t”. The question I’ll ask you is this: How many clothing items do you own? Do you know? So, how do you know that you don’t have enough clothes?

Now, we know that you do not know. What should you do?

First, we redefine your style. So, let’s say the last time you went on a major clothing haul, you were in Uni and had no need for corporate wear (except, you went to CU, hi!).

What defines you now? Where do you spend most of your time? Do you have clothes to suit that activity? Case: You work 12 hours a day in a corporate environment, 6 days a week and you have more aso-ebi than work wear. Problem? Yes!

What next? Let’s get to work on your closet!

Pick a day. Preferably a work-free, commitment-free day. For a lot of us, this is not Saturday. I pick Sunday though. I’m back from church at 8:30am, so I have the time!

Arm yourself! A Notebook. Pen. Music. Let’s get to work.

Bring out ALL your clothes – yes, even the ones in the laundry basket.

Start counting. Fill in each item under its respective category and you can tag with colour or style. For example, you can have under tops. 1 Ankara Halter Neck, 1 Black shirt.

Would you buy any of your clothes now? If yes, how much? If you buy it, do you have something to pair it with? Answer all these questions for each item!

What’s next? Do the needful:

Give away or Keep. Amend/Adjust items that still suit your style and are useful for your current phase in life, but give away everything that does not suit you or you will not wear! Keep the absolute necessities. For the items that are definite NOs, find something useful to do with them! P.S ChristmasOnTheStreetZ is coming soon, so feel free to donate clothes!

Hang your clothes. Lesson Learned. Hanging helps. It is easier to remember what you have when your clothes are hung. Folded clothes/clothes in boxes are very very easy to forget.

You need as many basics or staples as you can afford. You need a black pencil skirt much more than you need that Sky Blue Bodycon Zip hip-serving Skirt. The Grey pumps are more important than the yellow ones right now. These basics give you room to create as many looks and styles as possible. Why? They go with everything. I’m not asking you to go all Shirley-esque with that sexy minimalist style, especially if that’s not your style. Just make sure you know how to do 1+1 with your style, before you enter Almighty Formula.

Do this regularly. It guides your spending habits and puts your whole life in order.

A photo posted by The Alaroro Shopaholic (@thealaroro) on Nov 4, 2016 at 1:21am PDT

Listening: to the I Can’t Stop Spending (ICSS) Podcast. I feel like I have never had this challenge with spending. Do you know what the greatest weight on my spending is? Giving. I will talk about this someday.

Eating: everything I see. Tough truth: being the partner of someone who is fit in every sense of the word is so tough. Lol. It is easy to find yourself wondering if you are the right fit! There are so many fit-couples out there and it is easy to get… lost.

Worrying: about the wedding. A few months to go, yannah! Answering questions as simple as “What do you want?”

Believing: that Blessed is she that believes, for there shall be a performance of those things that were spoken unto her.

Loving: My Man. It is easy to get distracted with all this prep talk and lose focus

Connecting: with the BBN Wonderland bribes. 30+ of the most amazing women. BellaNaija gave me a network that I am already grateful for. No one is an island. Go out there, connect. You need people.

Stunned: by Hlengiwe Ntohmbela‘s ministry. Is there anything more beautiful than worship? True, pure and sweet worship?

After a long year of struggle, I am glad to say: it’s over. We even celebrated with cupcakes. November is a blessed month for me because it was on November 23 that I hit publish on my first post and December 2nd is my birthday. I am trying to make being thankful a conscious habit and I think you should too.